Good Morning from Alexandria,Well, the field aspect of the Hurricane Ike Catastrophe Field Team response is almost complete. I came home Friday evening and most of our surveyors spent the weekend wrapping up files and getting ready to head home as well. We still have 3 surveyors on the ground at this time, Steve Sudol, Mike McCook and David Wiggin. It is my hope that these last 3 will be heading home in the next couple of days. Mike and David are wrapping up our final major salvage operation, the 58 Altima that is between houses on Clear Lake Shores, which was delayed through all of...... Read More

I’m not a writer, nor am I an insurance person, but I am a boater and after spending some time with the BoatUS CAT Team (Catastrophe Team) I learned a number of things:1. There’s no such thing as a boater having no insurance; they are actually self insured. If your boat ended up like one of these at any of the marinas we visited, you will still have to pay to have your boat removed and disposed. If your boat sunk, you’ll still need to have it hauled, removed and disposed. If it has any fuel in it, you could also be liable for environmental damages. So when it comes to bo...... Read More

Hello Again from Texas,We have had another productive weekend and Monday here in Houston.The surveyors spent a fair amount of time this weekend processing paperwork and getting it to the adjusters in the office. As a result we have XX files closed and another XX files in which we have sent CTL (Constructive Total Loss) settlement documents out. Rob, Trisha, Andrea and Rocky have continued to work diligently to manage the files. The number of settlements and CTL's being processed should stay high over the next few days as the surveyors press to finalize the majority of the claims in e...... Read More

Here are links to the reports Chris Landry (Senior Reporter from Soundings Magazine) filed from his time with us in Texas:EXCLUSIVE: Firsthand report from Texas on Hurricane IkeEXCLUSIVE: Day 2 in post-Ike TexasEXCLUSIVE: Day 3 in post-Ike Texa

Hello again,We have had another successful day in Texas. In Galveston we have completed several salvage jobs over the last 2 days. We have completed all of the salvage jobs that we have been made aware of at Galveston Yacht Basin and Payco Marine. We have completed several of our larger more complicated salvages on the north shore of Clear Lake and Randy Roden has done more damages appraisals over the last few days.On the south side of Clear Lake we have continued to get salvage jobs done and move boats on to the salvage yard. In the storage yard we have received our jac...... Read More

Howdy from the Great State of Texas,We have had another successful day here in the field.Starting from the North end of Galveston Bay, we continue to work our relationships in Baytown, and are currently awaiting the city to award the contract for the salvage there. Upon the award of this contract we will work with the chosen facility to sign specific contracts for our boats in this yard.At the Storage Yard, all of our trucking resources are here in town and we expect the traffic to the yard to accelerate.At the Houston Yacht Club the salvage work is progressing and Damage appraisa...... Read More

After visiting Watergate, we drove around the corner and visited Waterford Harbor Marina and Yacht Club. What a difference between the two marinas! Waterford was better protected, plus they have floating docks with very tall pilings.I was so amazed at the difference between the two marinas that I didn't take an still photographs, just this video.

To see more videos from our time with the BoatUS CAT Team, go to Scott Croft's Blogs:http://www.boatus.com/blogs/portal/blogs.asp?AID=13